HC Deb 14 April 1965 vol 710 cc199-200W
43. Mr. Grant

asked the Minister without Portfolio what progress is being made with compulsory registration of title at Her Majesty's Land Registry; and when he expects this to be completed throughout England.

Sir Eric Fletcher

Good progress is being made in extending the system for compulsorily registering titles on the sale of land. In addition to the counties and county boroughs mentioned in my Answer to Questions put to me on 23rd December by my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, South (Mr. Carol Johnson), the compulsory system is, by an Order in Council which was made today, to be extended to the County Boroughs of Birkenhead, Stockport and Wallasey on 1st June; to Brighton, Burnley and Preston and to parts of East Sussex and Warwickshire on 1st October; and to Bolton and Bury and to parts of Lancashire on 1st December of this year. It is the intention of my noble Friend the Lord Chancellor thereafter to press on with the introduction of the compulsory system to other built-up areas of England and Wales as fast as the volume of conveyancing work throughout the country and the expanding resources of H.M. Land Registry permit. Although my noble Friend has plans for extending the compulsory system to all built-up areas in England and Wales by 1972, it is not possible to forecast a date by which the compulsory system will be applied to all rural areas.

44. Mr. Gower

asked the Minister without Portfolio what plans he has for introducing compulsory registration of title in Wales; and in what part of the Principality such registration will first be introduced.

Sir Eric Fletcher

My noble Friend the Lord Chancellor recently received from the Flintshire County Council notice of a resolution in favour of compulsory registration. As the hon. Member may know, the compulsory system cannot be applied to any area until up-to-date maps on the requisite scale are available. The only areas in Flint-shire for which there are maps are Prestatyn, Rhyl and a few small urban districts. The Lord Chancellor hopes to be able to extend the compulsory system to any built-up areas in the County within the next few years; but the Flintshire County Council is the only authority in Wales which has so far passed a resolution, and there are others in England which have done so and whose requests must also be considered.

The Lord Chancellor is anxious to extend the compulsory system to the built-up areas of the Principality as soon as possible.